Another Europe : 15 years of capacity building with cultural initiatives in the EU neighbourhood

Overview of the concepts and experiences that have emerged from collaborating with cultural initiatives in the EU Neighbourhood countries since the late 1990s. The term European Neighbourhood generally refers to all countries bordering the current EU member states, which are also covered by specific European Neighbourhood Policies (ENP) of the European Commission. Since 1999, ECF capacity building has been involved with hundreds of local cultural initiatives across all EU candidate countries in the Western Balkans as well as Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia (all still part of the EU Neighbourhood at the time), Turkey, the Arab Mediterranean region, Kaliningrad (Russia), Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and the Southern Caucasus. Publication features learning insights gleaned by cultural actors who have participated in one of ECF's capacity building programmes in these regions and comments on the challenges and outcomes of participative cultural policy reform. There is also a diverse range of practical, academic and artistic voices from people who have either contributed to or influenced ECF's programmes over the years.